SV Organisaties & ICT
College 1 - Information Systems in Global Business Today
Course outline
➢ You need a good culture on organisations and ICT (Terminology, Awareness, Skills)
➢ Bv Disney World → Problem: Long lines limit how many rides, shops, and restaurants a
customer can visit during a stay.
o Partial solution: Themed & decorated, 'Wiggly' lines, Fast moving
o Partial solution: Fast pass, Express, Premium, etc.
o Solution: Enhance customer satisfaction and spending by using information systems to
spot gridlock and improve crowd flow. Which means are used?
▪ video cameras, digital maps, computer programs, mobile apps
▪ ICT has a prominent role in increasing value and revenue in any business
➢ By studying organisations, the context where ICT operates
➢ By understanding their processes, how they work
➢ By explaining how ICT helps improve such organisations
➢ By presenting modelling techniques to analyse this interplay
Information systems in business today
➢ Information and Communication Technology (ICT)
➢ Information Technology (IT)
➢ (Computerised) Information System (IS)
The role of ISs
➢ Information systems are transforming business
o Emerging mobile digital platform
o Growing business use of big data
o Growth in cloud computing
➢ Globalisation opportunities
o Internet has drastically reduced costs of operating globally
o Increases in foreign trade, outsourcing
o Presents both challenges and opportunities
➢ Why is ICT important → ICT capital investment: defined as hardware, software, and
communications equipment, is measured as a percentage of total nonresidential gross fixed
capital formation.
➢ Technology
o Cloud computing as a major business area of innovation
o Growth in software as a service (SaaS) (Dropbox)
o A mobile digital platform
1
,➢ Management
o Managers use online collaboration and social networking software, so as to improve
(LinkedIn)
▪ Coordination
▪ Collaboration
▪ Knowledge sharing
o Business intelligence applications accelerate by making strategic use of data!
o Virtual meetings proliferate
➢ Organisations
o Web 2.0 applications are widely adopted by
firms
▪ Facebook, wikis, blogs, instant
messaging
o Telework gains momentum in the workspace
o Business ecosystems: co-creation of business
value
➢ The emerging digital firm
o Growing interdependence between ability to use information technology and ability to
implement corporate strategies and achieve corporate goals
o Business firms invest heavily in information systems to achieve 6+1 strategic business
objectives:
1. Operational excellence
2. New products, services, and business models
3. Customer and supplier intimacy
4. Improved decision making
5. Competitive advantage
6. Survival
7. Becoming more responsible
➢ Operational excellence
o Example: Walmart’s Retail Link system links suppliers to stores for superior
replenishment system
o Objective: Improvement of efficiency to attain higher profitability
o Information systems, technology an important tool in achieving greater efficiency and
productivity → The traditional use of ICT since its dawn
➢ New products, services, and business models
o Examples: Apple’s iPad, Google’s Android OS, and Netflix
o Business model: describes how company produces, delivers, and sells product or service
to create wealth
▪ E.g., micro-transactions
o Information systems and technology are a major enabling tool for new products,
services, business models
2
, ➢ Customer and supplier intimacy
o Example: JCPenney’s information system which links sales records to contract
manufacturer
o Serving customers well leads to customers returning, which raises revenues and profits
▪ Example: High-end hotels that use computers to track customer preferences
and used to monitor and customise environment
o Intimacy with suppliers allows them to provide vital inputs, which lowers costs
➢ Improved decision making
o Example: Verizon’s Web-based digital dashboard to provide managers with real-time
data on customer complaints, network performance, line outages, and so on.
o Without accurate information:
o Managers must use forecasts, best guesses, luck
o Results in:
▪ Overproduction, underproduction
▪ Misallocation of resources
▪ Poor response times
▪ Poor outcomes raise costs, lose customers
➢ Competitive advantage
o Examples: Apple, Walmart, UPS
o Delivering better performance
o Charging less for superior products
o Responding to customers and suppliers in real time
➢ Survival
o Information technologies as necessity of business
o Industry-level changes → bv geldautomaat
o Governmental regulations requiring record-keeping →bv Toxic Substances Control Act
➢ Becoming more responsible
o Companies can be interested in becoming more responsible for different reasons
▪ Internal forces
• The relevant stakeholders (e.g. the owners and the employees) believe
it is the right thing to do.
• Using it as a driver for competitive advantage (sustainability)
▪ External forces
• For marketing purposes. Beware of green-washing!
• Responsible consumer pressure.
• Influence of watchdog organisations (e.g. https://goodelectronics.org)
• New regulations.
Perspectives on information systems
Information systems, information, data
➢ Information system: set of interrelated components that collect, process, store, and distribute
information to support decision making, coordination, and control
➢ Three activities of information systems produce information that organisations need
o Input: Captures raw data from organisation or external environment
3
, o Processing: Converts raw data into meaningful form
o Output: Transfers processed information to people or
activities that use it
➢ Data vs. information
o Data are streams of raw facts, codified perceptions of
world phenomena.
o Information is data shaped into a meaningful form,
typically with a purpose.
Dimensions of information systems
➢ Not all information systems are the same. They are affected (and
need to be understood through) several dimensions:
o Organisational → They adapt to business
functions (marketing, human resources,
accounting, production), processes, culture,
politics, etc.
o Management → Managers set organisational
strategy for responding to business challenges,
and they also act creatively (e.g. new products and
services).
o Technology → There is an ICT infrastructure (the
platform that systems are built on). Computer
hardware and software, data management
technology, networking and telecommunications
technology
➢ E -waste → E-waste is producing devastating effects in the
lives of many people. And we are all producing it!
o Size of problem, impact
o Potential solutions
o Resistance forces
o Competitive advantages
➢ Any artefact intended to store of store or convey
information can be considered part of an information
system! Dus paper form en software
4
College 1 - Information Systems in Global Business Today
Course outline
➢ You need a good culture on organisations and ICT (Terminology, Awareness, Skills)
➢ Bv Disney World → Problem: Long lines limit how many rides, shops, and restaurants a
customer can visit during a stay.
o Partial solution: Themed & decorated, 'Wiggly' lines, Fast moving
o Partial solution: Fast pass, Express, Premium, etc.
o Solution: Enhance customer satisfaction and spending by using information systems to
spot gridlock and improve crowd flow. Which means are used?
▪ video cameras, digital maps, computer programs, mobile apps
▪ ICT has a prominent role in increasing value and revenue in any business
➢ By studying organisations, the context where ICT operates
➢ By understanding their processes, how they work
➢ By explaining how ICT helps improve such organisations
➢ By presenting modelling techniques to analyse this interplay
Information systems in business today
➢ Information and Communication Technology (ICT)
➢ Information Technology (IT)
➢ (Computerised) Information System (IS)
The role of ISs
➢ Information systems are transforming business
o Emerging mobile digital platform
o Growing business use of big data
o Growth in cloud computing
➢ Globalisation opportunities
o Internet has drastically reduced costs of operating globally
o Increases in foreign trade, outsourcing
o Presents both challenges and opportunities
➢ Why is ICT important → ICT capital investment: defined as hardware, software, and
communications equipment, is measured as a percentage of total nonresidential gross fixed
capital formation.
➢ Technology
o Cloud computing as a major business area of innovation
o Growth in software as a service (SaaS) (Dropbox)
o A mobile digital platform
1
,➢ Management
o Managers use online collaboration and social networking software, so as to improve
(LinkedIn)
▪ Coordination
▪ Collaboration
▪ Knowledge sharing
o Business intelligence applications accelerate by making strategic use of data!
o Virtual meetings proliferate
➢ Organisations
o Web 2.0 applications are widely adopted by
firms
▪ Facebook, wikis, blogs, instant
messaging
o Telework gains momentum in the workspace
o Business ecosystems: co-creation of business
value
➢ The emerging digital firm
o Growing interdependence between ability to use information technology and ability to
implement corporate strategies and achieve corporate goals
o Business firms invest heavily in information systems to achieve 6+1 strategic business
objectives:
1. Operational excellence
2. New products, services, and business models
3. Customer and supplier intimacy
4. Improved decision making
5. Competitive advantage
6. Survival
7. Becoming more responsible
➢ Operational excellence
o Example: Walmart’s Retail Link system links suppliers to stores for superior
replenishment system
o Objective: Improvement of efficiency to attain higher profitability
o Information systems, technology an important tool in achieving greater efficiency and
productivity → The traditional use of ICT since its dawn
➢ New products, services, and business models
o Examples: Apple’s iPad, Google’s Android OS, and Netflix
o Business model: describes how company produces, delivers, and sells product or service
to create wealth
▪ E.g., micro-transactions
o Information systems and technology are a major enabling tool for new products,
services, business models
2
, ➢ Customer and supplier intimacy
o Example: JCPenney’s information system which links sales records to contract
manufacturer
o Serving customers well leads to customers returning, which raises revenues and profits
▪ Example: High-end hotels that use computers to track customer preferences
and used to monitor and customise environment
o Intimacy with suppliers allows them to provide vital inputs, which lowers costs
➢ Improved decision making
o Example: Verizon’s Web-based digital dashboard to provide managers with real-time
data on customer complaints, network performance, line outages, and so on.
o Without accurate information:
o Managers must use forecasts, best guesses, luck
o Results in:
▪ Overproduction, underproduction
▪ Misallocation of resources
▪ Poor response times
▪ Poor outcomes raise costs, lose customers
➢ Competitive advantage
o Examples: Apple, Walmart, UPS
o Delivering better performance
o Charging less for superior products
o Responding to customers and suppliers in real time
➢ Survival
o Information technologies as necessity of business
o Industry-level changes → bv geldautomaat
o Governmental regulations requiring record-keeping →bv Toxic Substances Control Act
➢ Becoming more responsible
o Companies can be interested in becoming more responsible for different reasons
▪ Internal forces
• The relevant stakeholders (e.g. the owners and the employees) believe
it is the right thing to do.
• Using it as a driver for competitive advantage (sustainability)
▪ External forces
• For marketing purposes. Beware of green-washing!
• Responsible consumer pressure.
• Influence of watchdog organisations (e.g. https://goodelectronics.org)
• New regulations.
Perspectives on information systems
Information systems, information, data
➢ Information system: set of interrelated components that collect, process, store, and distribute
information to support decision making, coordination, and control
➢ Three activities of information systems produce information that organisations need
o Input: Captures raw data from organisation or external environment
3
, o Processing: Converts raw data into meaningful form
o Output: Transfers processed information to people or
activities that use it
➢ Data vs. information
o Data are streams of raw facts, codified perceptions of
world phenomena.
o Information is data shaped into a meaningful form,
typically with a purpose.
Dimensions of information systems
➢ Not all information systems are the same. They are affected (and
need to be understood through) several dimensions:
o Organisational → They adapt to business
functions (marketing, human resources,
accounting, production), processes, culture,
politics, etc.
o Management → Managers set organisational
strategy for responding to business challenges,
and they also act creatively (e.g. new products and
services).
o Technology → There is an ICT infrastructure (the
platform that systems are built on). Computer
hardware and software, data management
technology, networking and telecommunications
technology
➢ E -waste → E-waste is producing devastating effects in the
lives of many people. And we are all producing it!
o Size of problem, impact
o Potential solutions
o Resistance forces
o Competitive advantages
➢ Any artefact intended to store of store or convey
information can be considered part of an information
system! Dus paper form en software
4
